Mumbai: Shares of SBI soared by over 10 per cent, adding Rs 18,175 crore to its market value, after its fourth quarter earnings came in at better-than-expected.
The stock of the country's largest bank surged 9.69 per cent to settle at Rs 2,755.25 on the BSE in an overall strong market. During the day, it rallied 10.47 per cent to Rs 2,775 - its three-year high level. At the NSE, the stock jumped 10.28 per cent to close the day at Rs 2,769.80. The stock was the top gainer among the blue-chips on both Sensex and Nifty. Tracking the upmove in the counter, the company's market value surged by Rs 18,175.55 crore to Rs 2,05,699.55 crore.
The steep rally in the stock was instrumental in pushing the benchmark Sensex higher by 318.95 points or 1.31 per cent to 24,693.35. "SBI reported healthy performance on the asset quality front while operating performance came ahead of our estimates. The bank has witnessed significant asset quality improvement in the current quarter," said Vaibhav Agrawal, VP Research Banking, Angel Broking.
It declared a final dividend of Rs 30 per shares or 300 per cent for 2013-14. SBI today reported 8 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 3,041 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014 on account of higher provisioning against bad loans. It had a net profit of Rs 3,299 crore on standalone basis in the January-March quarter of the previous fiscal. The bank's total income rose to Rs 42,443 crore in Q4, 2013-14, from Rs 36,331 crore in the year ago period, SBI said in a statement. At the same time, the net interest income of the bank rose by 16.4 per cent to Rs 12,903 crore, from Rs 11,591 crore in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal.
Provisions against bad loans increased significantly in Q4 to Rs 5,884 crore from Rs 3,974 crore in the year-ago period. The gross Non Performing Assets (NPAs) as a percentage of total loan rose to 4.95 per cent during the quarter, from 4.75 per cent in the year ago period. The net NPA also increased to 2.57 per cent as compared to 2.10 per cent in the March 31, 2013. The gross NPA, which represents portion of bad loans, stood at Rs 61,605 crore at the end of March, up from Rs 51,189 crore in the year ago period. Both gross and net NPAs have fallen from 5.73 per cent to 4.95 per cent and 3.24 per cent to 2.57 per cent over the sequential quarter. For full fiscal (2013-14), the bank reported a 23 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 10,891 crore compared to Rs 14,105 crore in the previous fiscal. The total income of the bank rose to Rs 1,36,351 crore, from Rs 1,19,655 crore in 2012-13.
